Algeria will deliver 4 billion cubic meters of gas to Italy next week

July 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Algerian state-owned natural gas company, Sonatrach, will deliver 4 billion cubic meters of gas to Italy’s ENI next week, according to reports in the Algerian press.

So far this year, Algeria has delivered 13.9 billion cubic meters to Italy, which is 113 percent more than the expected volume, according to the newspaper ‘Le Courier d’Algérie’.

In addition, the delivery of another 6,000 million cubic meters is scheduled for the end of the year as a result of the talks recently held between the Algerian and Italian governments.

Next Monday, the acting Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, will travel to Algeria to participate in the IV Algeria-Italy Intergovernmental Summit scheduled for July 18 and 19.

ENI has reported that the supply from Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, is 11 million cubic meters below the average supply of recent days, to which is added the technical closure of the Nord Stream I gas pipeline that carries Russian gas to Germany and from there to other euro countries.

The war in Ukraine has thus made Algeria the axis of European energy policy and has also led to agreements with the French company Engie, which is adding to the supply through Spain, although Algiers has already stated its intention to turn around its strategy to the detriment of Spain, which Algeria reproaches for its change to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, since the Saharawi independentists are allies of Algiers.